Track-clearing device for railroads.



PATENTED JULY 21, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

V J. A. SHIRBS. TRACK CLEARING DEVICE FOR RAILROADS.

APPLIGATIOII FILED DEC 10 1906 gine or locomotive. snow sto be removedfrom the rails, the airair d ivery nozzle.

JOSEPH A. SHIRES, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

TRACK-CLEARIN G DEVICE FOR BAILROADS.

A No. 893,878.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 21, 1908.

Application filed December 10, 1906. Serial No. 347,200.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. SHrREs, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Im rovements' in Track-Clearing Devicesfor ailroads; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figuresof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention-relates to improvements inmeans for removing obstacles fromrailway tracks such as ice, sandf snow or other arti-' cles wlfidhformobstructions thereon.

The invention includes means for delivering air or .oth'er fluid underress ure to the rails in front of the forward wheels of the en- In caseice'or frozen or other. fluid is delivered to the rails in a heated codition, and for this pur ose I providemea 's for heating the air. T eair may be either taken from the atmosphere b J means of a forwardlydirected funnel or it may be taken from a compressed air source mountedon the train. 1

Having briefly outlined my improved construction as well as the functionit is intended to perform, 1 will proceed to describe the same in detailreference being made to the accompanying drawing in which is illustratedanembodiment thereof.

.In this drawing, Figure 1 is a side eleva-' tion partly in section, ofa locomotive equipped with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a fragmentarydetail view showing the loco motive fire box in horizontal section, theair pipes and nozzles being illustrated in plan view. Fig. 3,is asectiontaken through one of the fluid delivery nozzles and the rail underneath.Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the same with the nozzle housing shown inlongitiidinal section. Fig. 5 is a section taken throd h the railshowing a modified form of Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the sameshowing the nozzle in section.

/The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate alocomotive provided with a fire box 6. Asshown in the drawing a forwardly-directed funnel 7 is mounted on thelocomotive and terminates in an elbow 8 communicating with a conduit 10having a vertical part 12 provided with a valve 13 and a union 14 whichmay be connected with a pipe 15 for the passage of compressed air orother fluid. The conduit 12 enters the fire box as shown at 16 andmerges into a coil 17 located therein and communicating with aforwardly-extending conduit 5 the track rails 23, each nozzle having "aperfog0 rated bottom 24 occupying -a position directly above the 'rail'and inchned down lwardly on opposite sides thereof.

Iiithelform'of construction shown in Figs.

1 to 'in'clusive, the nozzle is protectedby a housing 25 acted on by acoil spring 26 whose upper extremity engages a stop 27 adjustablymounted on the pipe 20 by means of a set screw 28. By virtue of theadjustability of the stop 27, the normal tension of the spring so 26 maybe regulated at will. The housing 25 hields the nozzle from atmosphericinfluences and facilitates the ap lication of the fluid employed to thedesire ointnamel'y upoirthe rai 4 inclusive is more especially intendedfor use where it is desired to warm the rail either. for the purposeof'thawing ice or. snow, or for 'moderating or raising the temperatureof the rail to prevent the possibility of breaka e due to conditionsexisting in very co (1 -weather when the rails. are said to be full offrost. The form of nozzle shown in Figs. 5 I

and '6 is more especially intended for use where compressed air isemployed for removmg obstac es from the track. By using a strong,current'of air, obstacles of considerable size may be advantageouslyremoved from the rails by the use of nozzles 22 which are supposed to beforwardly directed and located in front of the forward wheels of thetruck, the same as the other construction of nozzle.

From the foregoing description the use of my improved device will bereadily understood. The funnel 7 is swiveld at A and is provided with avane B, whereby the funnel may at all times be directed toward the wind.The air as heretofore intimated may be taken in throucgh this funnelproducing a sort of I natural raft; or compressed air from a suitablesource on the train may be employed The" form of nozzle shown in Flgs.1- to 85 taking the same through the pipe 15, a valve C being opened forthe purpose. Where it is desired to heat the air, the temperature of thesame is raised to a suitable de ree by 5 ipassing it through the coil 17locate in the re box as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If it is not desired toheat the air, the conduit need not pass through the fire box. Inremoving obstaclesfron'n the track by the use of compressed air theheating of the latter of course is not necessary.

The ipe system is provided with a nozzle in a moment with the conduit 18and located forward of the branch pipes 19. Immediately in the rear ofthis'nozzle is located a valve 31. By connecting a hose Withthis nozzleand opening avalve 31, hot air may be employed for thawing out switchesor for use in connection with other devices adjacent the I track.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is: V 1. Thecombination with a locomotive or other similar vehicle, of a nozzlemounted thereon and occupying. a position above the track rail, .aspring-retained housing inclosing'the nozzle, and a pipe systemconnected with the air source and communicating with the said nozzle, aportion of said system being located within the fire box, whereby thefluid delivered to the rails may be suitably heated, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination with a locomotive or similar vehicle, of nozzlesmounted thereon and occupyingpositions above the track rails, thenozzles being arranged to deliver fluid to the rails, and a pipe systemcpnnected at one extremity with a fluidpressure supply source and at theother extremity with the nozzles, and spring-retained hous-' ingsinclosing the nozzles, substantially as described. I

3. The combination with'a locomotive or similar vehicle, of a nozzlemounted thereon and occupying a position adjacent a .rail of the track,means connected with said nozzle for delivering fluid thereto underpressure,

and a spring-retained housing inclosing the nozzle for the purpose setforth.

4. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a locomotiveor similar vehicle, nozzles mounted thereon and occupying positionsdirectly above the track rails, a pipe system communicating with saidnozzles at one extremity, and a funnel-shaped air receiver communicatingwith the system at its opposite extremity, the said receiver beingswiveled and provided with a vane for maintaining it in proper positionwith reference to the direction of the wind; substan tially asdescribed.

5. The combination with a. locomotive or JOSEPH A. SHIRES.

Witnesses:

A. J. OBRIEN, DENA NELSON.

